In the past, environments having networked equipment were typically limited to commercial and industrial sites. Such equipment was typically complex and highly sophisticated computer controlled machines that utilized networks to coordinate manufacturing activities. However, unlike the commercial and industrial setting, the typical consumer setting included devices and appliances that were fairly unsophisticated and that were operated by a user on a one-to-one basis. To achieve the consumer device's specific function, the user had to physically interact with the device by, for example, pressing buttons on a coffee maker to preset the machine to turn ON at a specific time.
Early advances in consumer devices and appliances were limited to remote control devices that, at first, were wired to the device, and later used infrared (IR) communications to transmit commands. However, the remote control devices still forced the user to interact with their respective devices on a one-to-one basis. In addition, most hand-held remote control devices were proprietary, which required separate remote controllers for each consumer product. Further advancements included universal remote controllers that were capable of being programmed to control many consumer devices. However, universal remote control devices were limited in that they were typically not able to control devices other than entertainment equipment.
Lately, consumer appliances have become more sophisticated because of the decreased size and costs of computer-related components such as microprocessors. These new consumer devices include the so-called “smart” devices that, like the sophisticated commercial and industrial machinery, are capable of executing predefined tasks and capable of communicating over a network infrastructures. An example of a system is smart devices is CEBus®, which may utilize household powerlines to transport messages between compliant CEBus® household devices. CEBus® is implemented per EIA IS-60 for home automation. The CEBus® system utilizes controller and receptacle units to communicate and control CEBus® compliant devices. The receptacle units are connected to standard household receptacles and the command and control information is communicated over the powerlines. However, the CEBus® system is a hardware solution, which requires that the compliant devices be designed to be compatible with the standard. As a further limitation, the CEBus® controller is a special-purpose device. While this is an advancement over prior solutions, this hardware solution limits the upgradablity of the network and the devices, and fails to provide a solution for non-compliant smart devices.
A further example of a system that is intended to network devices is Jini™, which is based on Java™. Jini™ uses Java Remote Method Invocation protocols to move code around a network of devices. Network services run on top of the Jini™ software architecture such that devices and applications may register with the network via a lookup service. However, the Jini™ system is limited in that each device must register with the lookup service for other devices to discover them. Thus, each device is not aware of other devices on the network without first pointing to the lookup service. Further, there is no general purpose user interface that enables a user to interact and control all of the networked devices from a remote location.
In view of the above, there is a need for a system whereby once isolated and non-remotely controllable and configurable devices are able to share information with and about each other, and are able to provide and accept common command, control, and communication though a network. There is also a need for a system that provides the networked devices with the ability to operate autonomously in the case of a network failure, or for localized control and operation. There is also a need for a system that provides users with a method to control devices with a general purpose device (e.g., personal computer), and that provides a method to communicate over open network infrastructures. The present invention provides a solution to address the limitations and shortcomings of the prior art.